The Parishioner - Edition 23

St Marianne Cope
Written and Illustrated by charlotte cassidy
St. Marianne Cope was born Maria Anna Barbara Koob on January 23rd 1838,
to Peter and Barbara Koob in Heppenhein, Germany. Eighteen months later the
Koob family emigrated to America, settling in Utica, New York, where Maria and
her siblings attended school at the nearby Catholic parish of St. Joseph.
Eventually, the entire family became American citizens, changing their name
from Koob to Cope.
At the age of fifteen, Maria had hopes of becoming a nun. However, she had
to delay her aspirations when her father, Peter, became an invalid and Maria,
the eldest of the Cope children, had to leave school to work in the local mill to
help support her family.
After her father’s death in 1862, Maria, now aged twenty four, decided to
pursue her vocation and entered the Order of Franciscan Sisters in Syracuse,
New York. On completion of her novitiate year she was clothed in
the habit of the Franciscan Sisters and received her new name,
Marianne. Shortly afterwards, Sister Marianne became
principal English teacher in the newly established school
for German speaking immigrants in New York City.
In 1870 she became a member of the
governing council of her congregation and
founded two Catholic hospitals, St. Elizabeth’s
Hospital in Utica and St. Joseph’s Hospital in
Syracuse. St. Marianne first became a nurse
in St. Joseph’s hospital and then the
hospital’s administrator. This latter post,
which she held for seven years, would
prove providential in preparing her for the
special ministry for which she was
destined.
As hospital administrator she invited
student doctors from Syracuse Medical
University to further their studies at St.
Joseph’s Hospital, firmly stipulating that the
poor were to be given the same respect and
medical care as the rich, regardless of race
or creed. Both of Sr. Marianne’s initiatives
were unique at the time and she was loved by
the people of Syracuse for her kindness. In
1883 she was appointed Superior General of her
congregation and became known as Mother
Marianne.
In that same year Mother Marianne’s life took an
entirely different direction when she received a letter from
King Kalakaua of the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) pleading
for urgent help to care for the island’s abandoned sufferers of leprosy
(now known as Hansen’s Disease). Due to the widespread fear of contracting
leprosy, more than fifty religious orders had already declined the King’s plea for
help.
Mother Marianne, however, responded with enthusiasm writing, “I am hungry
for the work and I wish with all my heart to be one of the chosen ones whose
privilege it will be to sacrifice themselves for the salvation of the souls of the
poor islanders. I am not afraid of any disease, hence it would be my greatest
delight even to minister to the abandond lepers.”Shortly afterwards Mother
Marianne, accompanied by six of her Sisters, set sail from Syracuse to Honolulu.
On the voyage she assured her Sisters that they would never be afflicted with
leprosy. When their ship arrived in Honolulu Harbour the bells of Our Lady of
Peace Cathedral pealed a welcome to the Sisters. Mother Marianne was then
assigned to care for leprosy patients at the overcrowded Kakaao Branch Hospital
in Oahu, near Honolulu, where sufferers of the disease gathered from all over
Hawaii to receive treatment. The more advanced cases were always shipped to
a settlement on the remote Hawaiian island of Molokai. At the Oahu Hospital
town officials soon recognized Mother Marianne’s leadership qualities and
appointed her administrator of the hospital. The following year, at the
government’s request, Mother Marianne founded founded Malulani Hospital,
the first hospital on the island of Maui.
A year later in 1885, Mother Marianne founded a home in Kapiolani for young
homeless girls born to parents with leprosy. Although these children were
healthy, no institute other than the Sisters would care for them because of their
close association with those suffering from the dreaded disease.
King Kalakaua was so moved by Mother Marianne’s concern and devoted
care of the leprosy patients that he bestowed on her the Cross of a Companion
of the Royal Order of Kapiolani.
However, in 1887, the bleak situation for those diagnosed with leprosy
suddenly became even more drastic. The newly elected government of that year
brought in extremely harsh policies towards leprosy sufferers. It
ordered the immediate closure of the leprosy treatment hospital
in Oahu, where Mother Marianne was administrator.
Government policies also firmly stated that all leprosy
patients resident in the hospital, including young
children, must be transferred from Oahu and
permanently confined on the remote Hawaiian
island of Kalaupapa, Molokai.
Consequently, as the number of new
leprosy cases increased in the town of Oahu
and with no hospital for them to receive
treatment, politicians quickly realized that
they had made a error in closing the
hospital and pleaded with Mother
Marianne to care for the leprosy sufferers
on the island of Molokai and to establish
a new home for them on the island.
Although the move to Molokai meant
she would never again be able to see her
family and friends in Syracuse, Mother
Marianne regarded the leprosy sufferers as
God’s children who needed her love and
care, so, without hesitation, she responded to
God’s call enthusiastically saying, “We will
cheerfully accept the work.”
In November 1888 Mother Marianne and her
Sisters arrived at Molokai to care for the lepers and
also the dying priest, Fr. Damien de Veuster, later
canonized for his heroic care of the leper colony on the
island. Fr. Damien had also been diagnosed with leprosy
and, when he died nine months later, Mother Marianne
immediately assumed his responsibilities with great zeal, taking
complete charge of the island’s only hospital.
To help care for the men and boys suffering from leprosy, Mother Marianne
requested from mainland Hawaii, the assistance of four monks from the Order
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so that she and her Sisters could care for the
women and girls. Mother Marianne opened a new home for on Molokai for
sufferers of leprosy arriving from Oahu as the government had commissioned.
She also opened a girls’ school on the island. Each day in the island’s hospital
she gave devoted nursing care to her patients of all ages. She would carefully
measure and administer their medications. She was never afraid to touch the
lepers and would apply soothing ointment to their disfigured hands and feet. To
give her patients self esteem, Mother Marianne and her Sisters decided to sew
cotton dresses, fashionable at that time, for the women and girls and put ribbons
in their hair. She also taught them prayers and read passages from the Bible to
them and she would encourage them in their skills of traditional arts and crafts
and singing. She also encouraged them to establish a colourful floral garden
on the island to brighten their surroundings.
Through the love and dedicated care of Mother Mariannne (contd page 12)
11